Quick & Painless Business Writing

Chapter 4

Verbs: The Power Words

No question, verbs reign as the mass and muscle of the word-use kingdom. They’re strong. They’re powerful. And boy do they stand out in a crowd! Why? Because verbs are about energy. 100 percent energy.

Let’s do a quick noun-verb comparison. Say someone went into the room of Dolores, the bearded lady in the traveling circus. Naturally, you want to know who. No surprise: It’s Bill the Sword Swallower, aka The Amazing Bill. All of this is interesting, but more interesting: what was Bill doing in Dolores’s room? That’s where the verb—also known in classrooms everywhere as the “predicate”—comes in. As always, specifics tell all. The more specific the verb, the better. Here’s the sentence with a general verb:

Bill ...